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A Meaningful Life Leads to a Longer Life

Many studies have linked meaning in life to health. People who perceive their lives as full of meaning and purpose are less vulnerable to mental illness and are better able to cope with stress and trauma. Having a strong sense of meaning in life also inspires a desire to live healthy: it makes people feel like they have something to live for. But does a meaningful life actually lead to a longer life?

Initial evidence suggests that it may. In a study published in the Journal of Gerontology: Social Sciences, Dr. Neal Krause, a professor at the University of Michigan School of Public Health, found that older adults who indicated having a strong sense of meaning in life in an initial assessment were more likely to still be alive at a follow-up assessment than older adults who lacked a strong sense of meaning. Moreover, Dr. Krause identified a feeling of purpose as a driving force. Older adults who felt like their lives had purpose were healthier and thus less likely to die.

Of course this research leaves a lot of questions unanswered but it also adds to the growing body of scientific evidence indicating that meaning in life is a crucial component of healthy living. So keep exercising, eating right, and drinking green tea. But also, endeavor to find a purpose in life.

Isn't it funny how if you make it seem that the body should keep going, the "forces" seem to align to make it possible to be healthier and longer lasting. But if you curl up and say I'm tired of this, and no more for body, the body responds by deteriorating, and giving you a shorter life. It's almost like there is a force in the Universe that responds to our own need to flourish. I can't really get a handle on this with my own beliefs that there probably isn't a supreme being. Yet I have to wonder, what is this force? Glenn

While I was visiting a nursing home, a woman confided in me that she was ready for God to take her home. It's hard to tell, but that did not seem to shorten her life. She did take part in activities there. I suspect there are a lot of people like her.
I'm sure that a reason to live would have made her life more interesting.